Ep 10. Dinner For 20,000

In The Aquarium season 2 episode 10, titled "Dinner for 20,000," viewers are taken behind the scenes at the Georgia Aquarium as the team prepares for a massive feeding of the ocean's most fearsome creature, the whale shark.

The episode opens with the aquarium staff discussing the upcoming feeding, which promises to be an enormous event both in terms of logistics and spectacle. The staff explain that whale sharks are some of the largest creatures in the ocean, capable of growing up to 40 feet in length and weighing as much as 20,000 pounds. As filter feeders, their main food source is plankton and small fish, which presents a unique challenge for the aquarium team in terms of quantity and quality of food needed to keep these massive creatures happy and healthy.

Next, viewers are taken to the aquarium's kitchens where chef Wayne prepares a special meal for the fish, including buckets of krill and plankton that will later be dumped into the tanks during the whale shark feeding. The sheer amount of food required for this event is staggering, with pounds upon pounds of phytoplankton and zooplankton needed to sustain the massive sea creatures.

As the aquarium staff prepare for the feeding, viewers get an intimate look at the life of these gentle giants. They are given an inside look at the topside viewing area, where visitors can watch the whale sharks glide gracefully through the water and bask in the sun. The episode highlights the importance of conservation efforts, and the crew discuss the various ways in which the team at the Georgia Aquarium is working to protect these gentle giants and other sea creatures from the dangers of human activity.

The climax of the episode is the feeding itself, when the massive whale sharks are finally treated to their special meal. The entire scene is awe-inspiring, as viewers watch in amazement as the massive creatures open their mouths wide to filter the seemingly endless amount of food that is poured into their tanks. The aquarium staff work tirelessly to ensure that each shark is fed properly and that the other creatures in the tank are not left hungry.

Overall, "Dinner for 20,000" is a fascinating look at the day-to-day operations of one of the largest aquariums in the world. The episode is filled with breathtaking shots of these incredible sea creatures and provides a unique perspective on the role that aquariums play in protecting and preserving the world's oceans and their inhabitants.